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1/09/2011

Chocolate Chipotle Chicken Chili


So I am facing another day of not getting called to teach so since the ground is covered in snow and my dog is passed out snoring, I decided why not make dinner now at noon. I have been craving chilli so I searched my pantry for interesting things to add to it instead of the usual ingredients. I had some leftover chicken thighs in the fridge so I started there and pulled the meat off the bone. Then I had a few peppers and onions so I chopped those and added a few cloves of some kick ass Polish garlic that our exotic “garlic lady” recommended. (Of course she grows it all locally.) Then I found a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce so I chopped up a few of those. I added some black beans and tomatoes from the garden this past summer. Then I tasted it and it needed something else. I looked and looked for the magical ingredient and alas I found it… unsweetened chocolate. It added a nice flavour and thickened up the chilli very nicely after given time to simmer. The only thing it is missing is probably a hint of cilantro but it will have to do without because I am not going back to the store to get it. After simmering for awhile the flavours all came together and when I tell you I may have gone over bad with the chipotles, I mean it. This chilli is not for the weak at heart, but rather for ones with dragon like senses like myself… Enjoy!



Chocolate Chipotle Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Chopped chicken breast meat or leftover chicken cut in pieces
3 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
2 TBS chilli powder
1-2 tsp of cumin
2 TBS chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Salt/ pepper
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth
28 oz can of diced tomatoes, with juice
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
Green onions, for garnish
Sour cream, for garnish
Avocado Slices, optional garnish

 
Directions: Saute onions, peppers, garlic and raw chicken until veggies are soft and chicken is cooked. If using leftover cooked met, then add the meat after the veggies are cooked.

Add the sugar through the tomatoes and cook to a boil. Turn the heat down and add the chocolate slowly until desired taste is reached. Continue to simmer until chilli reaches the desired thickness.

Top with a dollop of sour cream, an avocado slice, and chopped green onions.

Serve with cornbread.



Warning: This is very spicy, but really good!



1/05/2011

Team USA vs. Team Canada

So the time has come again for the United States to team up against Canada in the World Junior Hockey Tournament.  Since this was the first year in a long time to watch the game on one of our home turfs.  I  decided what better way to bring the rivalry up a notch with some team pizzas.  I made a Canadian flag for Rob using a slice of pepperoni in the shape of a maple leaf for and a pattern of sauce and cheese to make the red and white portions of the flag. 




For the US flag, I did something that I can say that I have only purposefully done a handful of times in my life and that was add blue food coloring to the cheese to make the blue portion of the flag. Now I had all good intentions to pick up a purple potato and make a pile of bluish purple mashed potatoes, however the store  was out of them.  So I resorted to dying a handful of shredded cheese blue. I used thin slices of pepperoni and mozzarella cheese for the read and white stripes and chopped garlic for the stars. 


The table was set with our opposing team flags and of course our signature pizzas. He wouldn’t touch a slice of the US flag pizza and I wouldn’t dare touch a piece of his Canadian flag.  Too bad the US lost so I couldn’t rub it in.  Well that is enough rivalry for one season. 



Now back to living in harmony with each other ;)